The opportunities and effectiveness of distance education continue to be technology driven. However, as instructional design is defining appropriate ways to select and implement technologies there have been advancements in learning opportunities. These successes have clearly shown that the way a lesson is designed is much more important than the way it is delivered. One example of effective delivery and innovative course design is the Jasper Project. This project, which began in the1980's, was based on a unique approach to learning, using a simple technology and sound instructional strategies. In 1990, The Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt University, conducted a controlled experiment using their product in Nashville public schools demonstrating significant improvements in students' math achievement and their attitudes about math.

The Learning Philosophy

"The Adventures of Jasper Woodbury" is a set of 12 videodisc lessons in math. The design and development of these lessons was based in the creation of "natural learning" environments. According to The Cognition and Techology Group, a "natural learning" environment contains 3 elements:

    1. the teacher and learner share a context and frame of reference
    2. the tasks performed are authentic
    3. knowlege learned is viewed as a tool to accomplish a task.

The developers found this approach in great contrast to students traditional classroom experiences.

The Instructional Strategy

Each lesson was developed based on recommendations by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. For instance, these lessons are cross-curricular in nature, in that the math problem may be presented in a history or science problem or story. The adventures also encouraged higher levels of reasoning and communication.

The lessons were intended to develop problem solving skills. To do this, the Group used what it called "embedded data design." This meant that each lesson contained all the information needed to solve the problem and other information that students must sort through. Additionally, the overall problem could only be solved through the systematic solution of several smaller problems.

The Experiment

In 1990, the Group conducted an experiment using the adventures in Nashville schools. The was an established control group of students and the "Jasper students." After a pretest, the Jasper students rated slightly lower in planning and comprehension skills. By years end, their scores were significantly higher than the control group's in the same areas. Additionally, Jasper student attitudes increased positively concerning math, while the control groups attitudes were all negatively impacted.

Conclusion

In exemplary fashion, this project has demonstrated the media's role as it was presented by Moore and Kersley, which stated that media should be selected based on istructional objectives, audience, student characteristics and organizational factors. (Moore pg.97)

Based on these types of successful learning experiences we can take the research and development to a new level in distance education.

Moore, M. G. and Kearsley, G. (1996) Distance Education: A Systems View, California, United States: Wadsworth, 78-100.

Online

Kearsley, G. (1998) Explorations in Learning & Instruction: The Theory Into Practice Database. Retrieved from the World Wide Web: http://http://www.gwu.edu/~tip/

The Cognition and Technology Group (1992) What is the Jasper Project?, Learning Technologies Center, Vanderbilt University. Retrieved from the World Wide Web: http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/projects/funded/jasper/jasperhome.html